THE current BBC Sports Personality of the Year was eyeing up the pretender to his throne - Andy Murray was watching Rory McIlroy play golf.

Giving himself a rare day off as he prepared for the start of US Open, Murray went to watch McIlroy play at the Barclays in New Jersey on Friday. After a solid week of good practice and training, the Scot felt he deserved a bit of down time and the chance to watch one of the best golfers on the planet do what he does best.

As Murray tries to put all the component parts of his game together for one last charge towards a Grand Slam trophy this year, the opportunity to take inspiration from a serial champion was too good to miss.

From the golf course, the two men went to Madison Square Garden that evening to watch the US take on Puerto Rico on the basketball court.

"We are both in individual sports and there has been a lot of expectation on both of us over the last few years," Murray said.

"It is nice and can be helpful to talk to other athletes in different sports. I find it interesting and it can give you a different way of looking at things. I enjoyed spending time with him.

"You watch him live but then you speak to him and can see he is a totally normal guy, he's not different to anyone else, just incredibly gifted at golf.

"He obviously works extremely hard at it as well. You see him playing with Bubba Watson and Jimmy Walker. He is hitting the ball 30 or 40 yards further than Jimmy Walker, who is a fantastic golfer, and that's special because you can't teach that.

"He's a small guy and not incredibly strong but he has incredible technique and timing. It was great to watch.

Amelie Mauresmo is coaching Andy Murray on his build-up to the US Open [GETTY]

We are both in individual sports and there has been a lot of expectation on both of us over the last few years

Andy Murray

"He's a very nice guy. I have met him a couple of times before. He is enjoying himself just now, he has played great the last few months, I'm happy for him."

Both Murray and McIlroy took their time to turn their prodigious talent into a championship-winning force and both made their mistakes along the way.

As McIlroy enjoys his finest summer and heads towards the Ryder Cup, he was the perfect example to set for Murray.

For 14 months between 2012 and 2013, Murray had enjoyed the sort of form and success that McIlroy is having now.

But then surgery to cure his ailing back stopped him in his tracks last September and since then Murray has worked hard to recover from the operation but has struggled to recapture any consistent form.

Today he begins his US Open challenge against Robin Haase, the first of many awkward obstacles to be overcome if he is to make a mark on the last Grand Slam of the season.

Physically he feels better prepared than at any time since he won Wimbledon but it is stringing the wins together that has proved so difficult for him this year.

Related articles

But if the doom-mongers are writing Murray off, the man himself is looking calm and confident.

]He is now 27, heading towards old age in tennis terms, but as he watches Roger Federer prepare for the Open, he thinks he still has a few decent years ahead of him.

At the age of 33, Federer is one of the favourites for the title and yet just 12 months ago he was supposed to be a washed-up has-been. He had spent the year managing a chronic back injury and could not win a title to save himself.

But Federer always believed he could come back and now, as the champion of Cincinnati last week, he is oozing with confidence.

"It has been impressive how he has responded since last year," Murray said.

"I wasn't among them but a lot of people were writing him off and saying he wouldn't win another Major but he proved at Wimbledon that he can still do it.

"He was extremely close there and he has played great in the run-up to this as well."

Murray is healthy, fit and, in practice at least, he is playing well. Now he just needs to find the formula for putting those bits of his game together and start winning again.

If Federer and McIlroy can do it, so can Murray. And as for who will win that BBC award, Murray's money is on McIlroy.

"I would expect him to win it," Murray said. "He deserves it, I don't think anyone has come close to achieving what he has done this year. He still has got a bit of time left to do some more damage, he would definitely be my pick."